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LLMs

Discussions of how large language models (what's usually called 'AI') are impacting product practice.

Systems Thinking

+1

Grammarly shows how prototyping turned into an excuse for not thinking

Mar 28, 2026

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10 min read

Grammarly shows how prototyping turned into an excuse for not thinking

The industry is in the grip of directionless urgency, and users are paying the price. Strategy has been replaced with half-baked features.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

UX works through social relationships. AI tools are erasing them.

Mar 22, 2026

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8 min read

UX works through social relationships. AI tools are erasing them.

Stakeholders want to vibe code and have designers clean up after them afterwards. But rather than helping with velocity, there is just more noise and more work for everyone.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+2

Software is a coordination problem. AI can't help you with that.

Mar 13, 2026

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6 min read

Software is a coordination problem. AI can't help you with that.

The feedback loops of the product delivery lifecycle go through people. Adding AI makes it slower, not faster.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+1

Checking an LLM's work is a systemic, not an individual, problem.

Mar 8, 2026

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8 min read

Checking an LLM's work is a systemic, not an individual, problem.

Only a culture of design critique can prevent sloppy AI-generated problem definitions.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

"AI layoffs" like Block's are a race to the bottom that have nothing to do with productivity.

Mar 1, 2026

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7 min read

"AI layoffs" like Block's are a race to the bottom that have nothing to do with productivity.

You won't be replaced by AI, nor a person using AI, because backfills aren't real.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

Corporations demand perfection from workers, but AI gets unlimited slack.

Feb 15, 2026

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7 min read

Corporations demand perfection from workers, but AI gets unlimited slack.

LLM users have bottomless patience for inconsistent tools, and no grace left for their colleagues. What if we could flip it around?

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Systems Thinking

+1

Vibe prototyping isn't solving any problems. But it's creating many new ones.

Jan 24, 2026

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7 min read

Vibe prototyping isn't solving any problems. But it's creating many new ones.

It's easy to prototype and so everyone is prototyping, without really knowing why they are doing it.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Systems Thinking

+1

See what is happening, not what is supposed to happen

Jan 11, 2026

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11 min read

See what is happening, not what is supposed to happen

The stories we are telling around user research and LLMs have locked us into a doomed framing. Reject the very notion that it is "better than nothing."

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

AI Fatigue VS the Executive Echo Chamber

Dec 20, 2025

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7 min read

AI Fatigue VS the Executive Echo Chamber

The backlash against "AI-in-everything" is rising. Only execs are surprised.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

Amazon's layoffs are driven by something even stupider than AI

Nov 2, 2025

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8 min read

Amazon's layoffs are driven by something even stupider than AI

Andy Jassy wants you to think that velocity can make up for lack of strategy. But "build, measure, learn" only works if you're willing to learn.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Feedback Loops

+1

"Workslop" was the logical outcome of productivity maxxing

Sep 27, 2025

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7 min read

"Workslop" was the logical outcome of productivity maxxing

Local throughput optimization always externalizes costs onto downstream colleagues.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+2

The people ARE the process

Sep 21, 2025

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8 min read

The people ARE the process

Cutting down on collaboration tricks you into thinking you're going faster, but it destroys the divergence effects that make the design process valuable.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Metrics and Data

+3

Research is a leadership skill; don't cede it to AI

Sep 12, 2025

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9 min read

Research is a leadership skill; don't cede it to AI

The role of UX is not only to change the behaviors of users, but also to influence the behaviors of stakeholders. Adding AI tools to this process only undermines alignment.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+2

Skipping alignment leads to zero-impact UX

Sep 7, 2025

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9 min read

Skipping alignment leads to zero-impact UX

Deliverable artifacts are only a small part of the social system that product development entails. Any "productivity" gained by ignoring that system is an illusion.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

"Human in the loop" is a thought-terminating cliche

Aug 24, 2025

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10 min read

"Human in the loop" is a thought-terminating cliche

Without thoughtful guard rails, asking people to clean up after machines doesn't make machines better — it makes people worse.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

Aura UX

Aug 17, 2025

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8 min read

Aura UX

Shortcuts to establishing the legitimacy of design sabotage your ability to achieve anything meaningful.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

The AI age is the "age of no consent"

Aug 1, 2025

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10 min read

The AI age is the "age of no consent"

"Inevitability" means design decisions are no longer informed by user needs; now they are unilaterally imposed. The users are the ones being designed.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+1

Only outputs can be automated

Jul 20, 2025

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8 min read

Only outputs can be automated

By emphasizing design's role as a producer of visual outputs, our leaders have eroded the entire justification for UX as a practice.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+2

AI saved the feature factory

Jul 6, 2025

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9 min read

AI saved the feature factory

When outputs are valued above all else, hallucinations and slop aren't bugs — they're features.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+1

Imitating the future, breaking the present

Jun 20, 2025

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7 min read

Imitating the future, breaking the present

Tech companies are only pretending to innovate, through copying futuristic aesthetics from science fiction without understanding their purpose.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

The AI Hangover Era (The Everything App Part 3)

May 31, 2025

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12 min read

The AI Hangover Era (The Everything App Part 3)

Some leaders are starting to realize the extent to which AI has broken their ability to prioritize and ship value. Others are still doubling down.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

AI is not an assistant – it's your new boss (The Everything App part 2)

May 23, 2025

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10 min read

AI is not an assistant – it's your new boss (The Everything App part 2)

As managers continue to outsource data-gathering and decision-making to LLMs, the person above you on the org chart is transforming into a chatbot's clerk – and leaving product teams with the consequences.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

The Everything App is a symptom of Nothing Management (part 1)

May 18, 2025

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10 min read

The Everything App is a symptom of Nothing Management (part 1)

Leaders who surrender their point of view inevitably arrive at the same conclusion: we must solve every problem for every user. This approach demolishes the possibility of real impact.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

Problem Design

+1

Figma Dreamweaver

May 9, 2025

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7 min read

Figma Dreamweaver

The dream of being able to generate working websites will remain out of reach until UX redefines its practice around semantic structure rather than layouts.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov

LLMs

+1

The AI job crisis is a crisis of groupthink

May 4, 2025

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10 min read

The AI job crisis is a crisis of groupthink

Unmoored from user needs as the driver for decision-making, executives increasingly perform innovation for their peers. Today, that means AI products and AI workflows – no matter the cost.

Pavel Samsonov
Pavel Samsonov
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Writing on UX and product management to connect today's discourse with classic insights that the industry forgot.

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